Sunday, June 17, 2007

Some of you may know that I've been working on a portrait project for a couple of years called "Portraits for the Arts." It grew out of a desire to explore ways of giving portraiture more exposure, a wider audience, and a greater role in the art world. Portraits are usually commissioned works, but I wanted to think of other possible roles for the potrait. So I created a way of using portraits of people in the arts to give back to the art world with the help of generous individuals and organizations.

A couple of weeks ago, "Portraits for the Arts" was featured in the Philadelphia Inquirer. The article, by Karen Heller, tells the basics of my project and mentions that I am looking for nominations. So if anyone can think of a well-known artist-- painter sculptor, musician, writer, dancer, filmmaker, actor--and wants to donate the portrait, or funds, to an art-related organization in Philadelphia, please write me an e-mail through the "Portraits for the Arts" section on my website. There are several ways this can work, so If you have questions, I'll be glad to answer them.

Monday, June 11, 2007

Last week my portrait of Dr.Constantine Papadaks, 11th President of Drexel University, was unveiled. The portrait was commissioned by the Board of Trustees of Drexel and will be a gift to the unversity. Here we are at the unveiling: from left, Dr. Papadakis, me, and on the other side, Mr. Jacovini and Mrs. Papadakis. Missing from the photo is the Papadakis' dog Honey, who attended the event.

Before the official unveiling, I entered this portrait (with the proper permission, of course) in the Portrait Society of America's annual international competition, and it was awarded a Certificate of Excellence!

Here's a better photograph of the portrait. I should mention that most of the photos of my artwork, includng this one, are taken professionally by Karen Mauch.